Council considers bid to rezone Babinda mill site

The Cairns Regional Council will this week consider an application to rezone a defunct mill site for redevelopment.

The iconic mill at Babinda was the town's major employer until it closed two years ago.

Demolition work has begun and is expected to continue until the end of the year.

Owner MSF Sugar is seeking to rezone the site to build a mix of tourism, residential and industrial precincts which it hopes to eventually sell.

CEO Mike Barry says the feedback from the Cairns council has so far been positive.

"We want to make sure it gets cleaned up effectively and efficiently and then turned over to a better use, hopefully a use that employs more people than what was there when the mill was there," he said.

"We've been engaged with the council for quite a period of time and making adjustments to the proposed plan, so we're hoping they look on it positively.